Yes, Yes, Yes, We Know Second Hand Smoke is Bad

Apparently a lot of people die from second hand smoke in Louisiana. New work from New Orleans-based agency Trumpet for the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living is approaching the dangers of smoking by highlighting the dangers of second hand smoke.

In one commercial, shot using the much overused overlapping voice track technique, a collection of people point out the facts surrounding second hand smoke exposure and how many people in Louisiana have been affected. In a second spot, the story of one of the women featured in the first spot is highlighted. She tells the story of Louisiana, an environment in which, apparently, everyone smokes and how her mother and how she died because of living in that environment.

While we can't fault the campaign for it's effort, we can't seem to get excited about it either. It seems all these "don't smoke" and "second hand smoke is bad" efforts just blur together after a while and become as innocuous as a laundry detergent ad.

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Comments

Comments

Not to sound callous, but her mom would die anyway unless she's Mumra the Everliving.

You die. In the meantime, have a laugh.

Posted by: Floyd Hayes on March 13, 2008 3:17 PM

It's too bad if the advertising is not effective. Smoking and secondhand smoke both take an unfortunate toll on the health of the citizens of Louisiana.

Posted by: Phil on March 13, 2008 5:04 PM

If so many people die from second hand smoke they why can't they prove it with a death certificate?

OSHA, a federal agency, who is responsible for workplace safety has never issued regulations against SHS because they allow 5,000 micrograms per cubic meter over eight hours. OSHA and ORNL have only measured 9.41 micograms per cubic meter over eight hours.

Second hand smoke is not harmful and the above is based on clinical air measurements, not questionnaires!

Posted by: Caryn on March 16, 2008 1:28 PM

If so many people die from second hand smoke they why can't they prove it with a death certificate?

OSHA, a federal agency, who is responsible for workplace safety has never issued regulations against SHS because they allow 5,000 micrograms per cubic meter over eight hours. OSHA and ORNL have only measured 9.41 micrograms per cubic meter over eight hours.

Second hand smoke is not harmful and the above is based on clinical air measurements, not questionnaires!

Posted by: KST on March 16, 2008 1:29 PM

Why can't they prove secondhand smoke with a death certificate, someone with two names asks twice. The answer, and read this twice if it will help, is that tobacco lobbyists blocked the law that would have let Louisiana coroners attribute deaths to tobacco use and exposure when appropriate. OSHA rules were blocked by the tobacco lobby at the federal level.

The blogger Steve Hall, despite his apostrophe error, is correct that the ads are not very effective. See the Journal of the American Medical Association for a study on the effectiveness of public health ads related to smoking. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/279/10/772